Adventures in the life of a stay at home wife and mom

Hello!! It’s been a while! Life with a (colicky) baby and a 2 year old can sure get hectic. I swear the time flies by faster than I can keep track of. I certainly doesn’t feel like it’s been over 2 months since I last posted, but it has!!

Anyways, in my little bit of spare time, I have been focusing on organizing my little sewing area so that I can get back to doing what I love- creating cute kids clothes! I thought I’d share some of my tips and methods to organizing everything in a small space.

Fabric storage:

I have this cabinet in my sewing room (Excuse the mess on my sewing table…) —

And here’s an idea of what it looked like before I got to work–

YIKES!!! I had to get organized… I just can’t work in a cluttered space.

So, first things first, I bought some shelves to place in the cabinet. I decided to use THIS method to fold my fabric to display it in a way that I could see everything that I have to work with. It makes it SO much easier to pick and choose fabrics for each project.

Here’s what it looks like now:

SO much better. (And LOOK, my ironing board tucks right in there too!) I was so overwhelmed with how it looked before But look at it now… makes me smile 🙂 (Yes, I am a total dork, lol. Fabric brings me joy! Just ask my husband and our bank account….)

Pattern storage:

I have a couple different methods for storing patterns. The first are these lovely storage cubes that I found at the Dollar Store. They slide right on the top shelf and are the perfect fit for my paper patterns:

(Don’t mind the bin on the left- it’s filled with ribbon and trim…)

The other problem I ran into was how to store my PDF patterns that I’ve printed. This is still a work in progress, but I’ll explain what I’m working on doing. I bought a large binder and a bunch of plastic pocket protectors. I printed the first page (usually has a picture) of each pattern. Place each of these pages in a paper protector, and then slide your pattern piece (folded neatly) in behind them. This way, I can thumb through my patterns and see exactly what I have and have the pieces organized. Because otherwise, they can become quite the mess!

Also– I don’t bother printing up the millions of pages of instructions anymore. I downloaded Dropbox on my computer and on my phone, and I simply “drop” the instructions into Dropbox on my computer, and then I can read them on my phone as I sew. Huge paper saver!!! (And if you don’t already have Dropbox, get it! I love this program for more than just patterns!!)

Notion storage:

I have a couple different methods for storing notions. First, I have one of THESE drawers. It is perfect for fabric scraps, little containers of buttons, safety pins, etc… I keep all sorts of little odds and ends in there.

Then, back to my little cabinet, I placed this on the inside of one of the doors (another great dollar store find, I think I will probably grab more to put on the other door too!)

It’s perfect for my scissors, rotary cutter, needles, zippers, bias tape, elastic, you name it! And all those little packages are organized and out of the way. How handy is that!

So, there you have it, a few little secrets to organizing a small space. It’s still a work in progress, so PLEASE send me your ideas! I’d love to see more!! And, as always, have fun!

We got back from our road trip to Missouri late Thursday night, and I learned a LOT about traveling with a toddler. I’d like to share a few things with you in the hopes that your future travels with a little one will be successful!

Bring a portable DVD player- This one was HUGE for us. Linnaea doesn’t typically watch a ton of TV, but the DVD player and her favorite movie was a life saver for us. It really helped distract her from the fact that she had to sit in her car seat for 14 hours.

Bring Snacks- I kept a supply of Linnaea’s favorite snacks in the front seat with me, that way I could hand her things as we were driving.

Bring your little one’s favorite lovey- Linnaea is attached to her blankie. It’s SO important to grab whatever toy/stuffed animal/pacifier/etc that your child is attached to.

Coloring books- To keep things clean, I handed Linnaea a coloring book and would give her a couple crayons at a time. I switched out colors occasionally, and she was happy as could be.

Fun kid’s music- Bring along a CD of fun songs that your kids want to listen to

Stop to stretch often- Your toddler will be much happier if you let them stretch their legs often. We stopped at several rest stops along the way and took short walks with Linnaea.

Bring along new/different toys- We were able to borrow a few toys from a friend, and these were a huge hit! Linnaea showed interest in them longer because they weren’t the same old toys that she’s used to playing with daily.

Bring a small stash of medicines- Tylenol/allergy meds/band-aids/etc…. We learned this one the hard way. When we got to Missouri, it turned out Linnaea was teething and we had to go find teething meds. It would have saved us some hassle if we would have packed a few items.

Change of clothes- Put a change of clothes in the car. Linnaea got car sick along the way and we were left digging through the trunk for her clothes. It would have been much easier had a tossed an outfit in the back seat.

Diapers- Keep a stash of diapers/wipes/changing pad easily accessible. Or, if your kiddo is potty trained, make sure you are stopping frequently for potty breaks.

When to travel- Make sure you are positive that your child will sleep through the night in their car seat before deciding to travel at night. We thought night travel would be easiest because we assumed Linnaea would sleep the whole way. Boy were we wrong. She only slept one hour the entire way to Missouri. That made for a rough first day there. On the way home, we traveled during the day and she did MUCH better.

I hope you’ll find a few of these tips helpful! And, please, let me know if you have more to add!! Happy travels!